My Lovely Nightmare & My Living Dream
by mmluvsu
Summary: The war has just begun for Ginny Weasley. She experiences death and tragedy right before her eyes, and awakes to a life she had never seen before, and a death eater at her side. The med-witch walks in... "Mrs. Malfoy, please try to rest!" Malfoy? MRS!
1. Battle Scars

I remember watching Harry Potter's best friends flank his side moments before they walked onto the large, dark field before the battle. My heart surged with an unsteadily beat, I could hear the blood chug-a-lug-chug-lug in my ears, and I felt the icy numbness of adrenaline course through my veins.

Harry walked as if the world was resting upon his back, even with faithful loyal friends surrounding him. I remembered our conversation from months before as my feet too hit the soft, dewy grass.

I laughed to myself at this memory wondering why now, on the brink of war I decided to remind myself. We tried to date for a short while, but realized that friendship was all we had to offer one another.

But I still cared deeply for him, as I had since I saw him standing in my kitchen when I was eleven. I saw flashes of our memories running through my mind… our first kiss under the mistletoe, lounging by the lake, staying up late writing foot after foot of parchment together… well, along with Ron and Hermione.

Actually, come to think of it, I couldn't hold any substance of a memory in our relationship that the 'golden trio' wasn't right by his side.

I could hear his voice in my head, "I _guess that's it then? I really thought we were going to make a great couple…_"

I laughed lightly, "_You know Harry… I thought we would too, but I'm glad things are the way they are now, everyone is happy_."

Happy... I guess everyone is happy, considering. I shook the memory off and stared at the back of Ron's head, good lord was it huge. Literally, I couldn't see around him his body was so long and burly. Muscles stretching his t-shirt sleeves to their limit, I had to admit Ron must have looked intimidating, even for Death Eaters who hid behind their masks.

His shoulders were square and his head was down as if he were a predator, stalking the prey in front of him. I noticed in the teeniest of passing Hermione and Harry exchange a long and meaningful look before facing forward like Ron.

The cool autumn wind whipped through my hair, I could smell the wet leaves and damp earth, I could taste the salty lake that sits just over the levy. I could feel the vibrations from the shuffling of feet, big and small on the ground beneath me. My head buzzed noisily and stomach flattened to my spine.

I felt a pricking in my eyes and hot tears run down my face. The roll of nausea crept up my back like right before you get a muggle vaccine, and I'm pretty sure my heart had stopped beating.

Ron reached his free hand back to me wordlessly and I grabbed onto it like a lifeline. My brother gave me a strength I didn't know I had inside of myself.

A cackling laugh brought my attention back to reality. I could easily see the form of Bellatrix Lestrange advancing with joy to the field from the very outer edge. She was singing a lullaby my mother used to sing to me before I went to sleep.

Now almost seventeen, was I ready to die for the greater good, with an old nursery rhyme running through my head?

I gripped Ron's hand tighter as I could faintly hear Harry rally the troops,

"_Witches, Wizards, and Creatures of the World- the time is now! It is time to stand against this one evil, to rid the world of blood hate, and cruelty. This is OUR chance for retribution, to do something REAL and TRUE and HONORABLE. I know that no matter what happens today, no one will have died in vain, no one will ever be forgotten. We are the FUTURE, we are making today a more extraordinary tomorrow! Prepare yourselves TO MAKE HISTORY_!"

Although I consider a pep-talk before a game a bit corny, Harry's last minute speech was all I needed to focus. I heard my twin brothers sound a battle cry. I grinned, YES, I was ready.

Die, mother fuckers.

* * *

I ran through the crowd with my wand flourishing ahead of me. I could hear screams and shouts. I could see blood and bodies tossed aside, disheveled and broken. My head was full of angry hornets, I screamed out hexes and grunted protection spells to the fallen.

I ran past Luna Lovegood who was standing still in the midst of the battle. She was gazing at the body of Neville Longbottom, tears streaked her pale face and enlarged features.

"Come on Luna!"

She didn't move from her spot, only fell to the ground with her hands over her face, rocking back and forth as she grabbed his hand and wailed on.

"Luna, he is gone… Luna, they'll kill you!"

I tried to grab her arm to thrust her into standing position but she wouldn't let me.

"No, Ginny! I can't go on, I want to die… Oh God I just want to die here, with him. I cannot leave him here. I can't do it."

She buried her head into Neville's chest and sobbed painfully.

I was at a complete loss for words. I had no idea… I began to plead with her, beg her, but she wouldn't move. Seconds later I was hit by a red flame in my left arm, knocking me to the ground next to Luna.

I felt her move to my side, I heard her call my name, but I couldn't see anything. Just as my vision had begun to come back, I watched the green lightning bolt hit Luna's chest. I stared horrified as she sunk into the mud next to her beloved.

My heart was definitely not beating anymore. It was impossible.

I turned quickly to see who had murdered Luna and watched as Rudolphus Lestrange advanced toward me. He had a slight limp in his right leg, causing him to hunch over and run lopsided.

My breath was ragged and I saw the heat from my lungs became dense in the air. I barely scrambled to my feet before he hunchback had reached me. He shot a spell my way and I deflected it.

He shot two more, one after another as I shot my killing curse at him. I felt the blow of a thousand hot knives slicing through my skin, the weight of them unbearable. I didn't have time to notice Rudolphus fall to the wet grass and remain there.

I mustered all my strength to continue. I faintly heard a screech of bloody murder from not too far away from me. Bellatrix had witnessed the downfall of her husband as I sent the killing curse hurtling in his direction.

She was walking in my direction, craze in her eyes, blood on her face and teeth and hate in her entire posture. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red hair, and I turned to see who it was. I ducked to avoid the Killing Curse and heard a familiar grunt of pain.

Turning back again to see a white and gold spell light up my skin and illuminate the space around me. My body was ablaze again, like hot oil was running down my sides. I looked down to realize the oil I felt, was actually blood. In my immediate shock, I hadn't realized the damage that was done to my own body.

I tried to take a step and collapsed, just as two hands reached me. After a flash of silver, I couldn't see, my mind had gone black. My world had gone black. I could barely hear him…

"_Ginny, its gonna be OK, I'll protect you_."


	2. Made For A Princess

_**Hello Everyone!**_

_**I have decided that I read way too much ff to not consider trying to finish stories I started when I was in primary school. So if this one seems a bit different than others, it is my age. I also don't make an outline before I write, so don't expect everything to be structured. **_

_**Much like my life I prefer to have a bit of controlled chaos. I love ideas in reviews, and I will credit your ideas if I choose to use them in my story. I love to take reviewers input and let it directly correlate with the story! **_

_**&& I don't mind flames, as long as it's a constructive criticism **_**somewhere**_** in there. And also because I know its inevitable with all my punctuation errors, continuous run-on sentences and multiple grammatical errors. However let me say this once-**_

_**** I WRITE LIKE I THINK, LIKE I TALK- I TRY NOT TO FOCUS SO MUCH ON THE GREEN AND RED SQUIGGLES UNDER HALF OF THE WORDS I TYPE ON MY LAPTOP, BUT RATHER THE CONTENT.****_

_**JUST GO WITH IT :] **_

Also just to clarify- All _Italicized _sentences are _**thoughts**_, as in, not spoken aloud.

_**Oh & I type faster than I think so if I have a couple 'som' instead of 'some' and 'do' instead of 'to', bear with me, yeah?**_

_**Thanks,**_

_**Chow baby.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ridiculous plot ;) **_

_It was black for a long time. I don't remember how I ended up here… in the dark. I cannot move my head, or my arms or legs. I know that I'm not asleep though, and knowing this is more infuriating than frightening. It seemed like an eternity of motionlessness. _

_Until the pain. _

_It was searing hot on my torso. I could feel a thousand needles splintering into my every pore. _

_My bones being broken and re-mended again and again. I have an undesirable urge to thrash wildly about and shriek at the intense pressure threatening to squeeze the very little life I have left out of me. I can feel my heart racing faster than humanly possible. Surging onward and never ceasing. _

_But I cannot call out for help. I cannot move my limbs, or curse aloud whomever put me here. Wherever the hell 'here' was. _

_Eons later, I can faintly recognize voices on the other side, calling out to me. Slowly, with agonizingly horrid timing the white hot knives are pulled slowly from my flesh. My shattered bones are mended once more and left intact. _

The pounding, deafening silence finally reaches her ears and strains to catch a word, a syllable…anything. Nothing but hisses of a faraway conversation until finally, nothing at all. Ginny just needed to hear something. Whispers, a voice, pain even…Anything to remind herself of her existence.

_Perhaps I'm deaf._

But even that didn't seem quite right, for she could no longer hear the soft sloshing rhythm of her heart.

_Oh, gods. I'm bloody dead. _

* * *

"You're not dead, ma'am."

_Huh...Not dead?_

Ginevra opened her eyes slightly, her mind was hazy and she felt a tremor of a headache roll behind her eyes. Sunlight! It almost hurt to see the brilliant shade of white. She could hardly believe it! She fixated on the first thing that she saw, marveling at how vibrant everything seemed to be.

A cream colored canopy stared back from 15 feet above her. She took a shaky breath and released it slowly. Then it hit her—she had heard a voice. She heard a voice!

Ginny sat up ram-rod straight in her bed, disoriented and... and _thrilled._

She quickly did an assessment of her body, grabbing her arms and feeling her legs, wiggling her toes and grinning like a fool. _Oh, thank Merlin! _The tingling and over-whelming relief she felt to be alive was almost surreal.

"I'M NOT BLOODY DEAD!" she exclaimed and jumped from the bed only to throw herself whole-heartedly at a woman dressed in maid robes.

The poor woman in her grasp merely nodded and gave her an encouraging smile… One you might give to a three year old.

"No, ma'am, you are quite alive. Are you..." she coughed politely, "Are you having night terrors again Madam?"

Ginny flinched at being acknowledged by an older woman in such a proper manner. She pulled back enough to look the woman in the face. She was older, but not by much. Her skin hadn't developed crow's feet, or sun damage like most.

She looked mentally aged, haggard, and slightly concerned.

Ginny gave a polite smile, unable to answer her. It was never like Ginny to not notice her surroundings. She was always prideful of her ability to drink in detail and recall small bits of information that others merely overlooked.

She took a full step back.

Now out of the woman's embrace and glancing quickly around the lavish room, she was trying to get her head to process everything, but couldn't. She shook her head a few times to clear it.

The woman must have assumed she was shaking her head 'no' in response to her question and after making the bed quickly and opening the tall crisp curtains, left the room quietly.

Ginny didn't notice.

* * *

There were too many things she had to devote her attention to before a single thought could be spoken aloud.

Like the huge cream and gold vanity to her right, littered gracefully with perfume and lipstick tubes, compact mirrors and delicate potion bottles. Both muggle and magic alike.

There was a large mirror hanging above the lovely antique, or she assumed it was an antique. The mirror was lined with soft bulbs that emitted a romantic glow.

'_St. Mungos has gotten rather fancy since I last recall...'_

She felt unnerved, like there was something she was missing. Her family couldn't afford private quarters, let alone anything this… this... _fine_. She did a half turn and glanced back at the bed she sprang from not minutes before.

It was a soft pink, almost white. The duvet cover was a fluffy down that screamed to be laid upon. There were six down pillows atop the bed pushed to the ivory wood carved headboard.

The colors were delicate and sweet, all creamy rose with black embroidered edges. Next there were black pillow shams and decorative throws that had pink monogrammed initials.

_Ok Ginny. This is definitely not St. Mungos…must be in another woman's room, a guest room perhaps? _

The rest of the room seemed to compliment the bed, as if it was the centerpiece. The cream lace canopy that hung above and draped down from the ceiling hugged the edges of the king bed in a comforting way, passing the black dust ruffle and kissing the floor on all sides.

On both sides, large night tables with tall lamps and vases filled with white gardenias and pink gerbera daisies, a stack of old books sat on the left side. She could see the spine was cracked and the pages yellow between the covers. Antiques, fitting into the room perfectly, as if they were designed to be there.

_Perhaps they were._

She tore her gaze from the lavish bed and noted a large bay window on the far side of the room that seemed to tower above her in height. They had an overlook of a beautiful garden. It was filled with an soft earthy grass, with an array of vibrant colors scattered among rows and rows of flowers and small bushes.

It looked to be a maze.

Ginny had a strange desire to run among the lilies and scrunch her toes in the plush grass.

The pillows on the window seats were thin and black, with soft pink pillows adorned with black tassels on each corner.

To the left of the window was a door frame, and beyond that- a plush white carpet and a lovely black chez lounge chair with a small cylinder shaped pillow in the crook of the arm. Behind it, piece after piece of fine robes, grouped and hung on the rods by color and shape.

Ginny could make out a wall in the closet stacked to the top-shoes of every shape and height. She shook her head a bit-wherever she was- perhaps it would be best to not go exploring in another woman's closet.

Further to the left, another doorway and then a set of gorgeous French doors carved in the same intricate patterns as the bed's headboard, she noticed.

_A guest room with a sodding balcony? _

She took a few steps as if she was going to throw the doors wide open and step outside to breathe the fresh air. But something stopped her…This place is lovely, yes, but what the hell was she doing here? She grunted lady-like to herself.

_A guest? Not bloody likely, I don't know any chit with a home this elaborate, let alone have ME as her guest._

It was dazzling though, fit for a princess.

A large jewelry box stood on its own accord, looking grandeur and important. The wood was stained a deep cherry, almost black in its depth and she suspected it to cost galleons she couldn't dream of possessing.

She let out a gasp.

Each drawer was almost closed but for the middle one, stuffed with strands of tiny pearls- pink, cream and black strands mixed together and hanging from the petite dresser like an accessory.

The top was a felt inset with cushioned rows of precious gems on posts. There were large clear white rocks nestled on platinum settings, extravagant jewels shimmering with multi-faceted light. She reached out to touch the stones and wondered aloud, "A _**Diamond**_?"

There was a definitive _crack_.

* * *

"You called, Missus Ginny?"

Ginny whirled around quickly, her hand reaching her chest in a flash, shock clearly evident on her face. She had heard the apparation noise somewhere in the room and searched for the voice that startled her out of her snooping. However, she found no-one at eye level. She then looked down.

A small house-elf in a ballerina tutu was gazing up at Ginny adoringly.

"Er..Um..uh," she stumbled over her words trying to not look sheepish, "I suppose I did.. Could you tell me wher-"

Just then another woman with long official-looking dress robes entered the room and regarded Ginny with surprise and somewhat of a panic stricken face.

"Mrs. Malfoy!"

Ginny felt an overwhelming confusion. _Malfoy? Did she just say __**Malfoy**__?_

She felt her heart accelerate and her breathing came in ragged breaths, a large amount of pressure started to sink onto her chest as she re-surveyed the room. The vanity-the plush carpets, the rich hues of the walls and linens…

_Oh, Merlin_.

The weight of a heavy rock sank into the pit of her stomach as she realized that Dra-Malfoy was the richest bastard shed ever met.

Her lungs couldn't manage to re-fill with more air…she was having difficulty keeping her knees from buckling.

_Draco __**bleeding **__Malfoy's house? Death Eater, long-time nemesis and loathed ferret face? Are they just waiting for me to get better before they kill me? _

The woman began walking further into the room, her hands raised as if to calm Ginny.

"Please, Mrs. Malfoy—you need to rest!"

That did it. _No,no,no,no,no.._ Her knees could no longer hold her petite frame and Ginny felt her mind go fuzzy and the beautiful cream room was spinning further and further away from her.

She welcomed the blackness that enveloped her like an old friend.

It was darkness once again.


	3. What You Forgot

Draco waltzed into Ginny's room with a rather large gift tucked under his arm. He was about to call out to her, when he noticed the limp body of his wife sprawled on the floor, her Healer crouched next to her, sweeping her wand over her tiny frame.

"Ginny?"

The package dropped to the floor with a thud and he was rushing to her side.

"What happened?"

He cradled her head in his lap and after a few moments of shaking her gently he lifted her whisper thin body into his arms and laid her on the bed.

The Medi-witch turned and fumbled with her clipboard nervously and avoided eye contact with the Malfoy heir. This of course, only fueled his frustration.

"ANSWER ME!" Draco yelled at the woman with fury in his eyes and anger radiating through his very being.

His mother chose that exact moment to walk into the room and rushed to his side. She placed a delicate hand gently on his forearm, perhaps to calm him down.

"Healer Mullins, might I remind you why I keep you on my staff?" he hissed and his mother gave his arm a small pinch.

"Draco."

He turned and was about to tell his her off for trying to tame his mood but as soon as her glacier cold eyes met his in calculating regard, he realized his mistake and bit back his response.

"I apologize Mr. Malfoy.. I.. Well.. You see, she-"

The healer was becoming increasingly nervous with every moment. Since he had claimed his rightful place as Lord Malfoy and sole heir to the Malfoy and Black family fortunes, the stress was high and his temper seemed to get the best of him.

" What I don't understand is how you managed to get a degree from the most prestigious Academy for Medi-wizardry and yet you cannot manage to utter a single intelligible word from your trap about why she is in this current condition."

Narcissa however, had enough.

"Oh honestly Draco!" She scolded, "Get a hold of yourself. I will not see my only son turn back into an insufferable man like the one I married. You are being utterly foolish! Not to mention, bloody rude."

It wasn't until he heard his prim and proper mother swear that he shook himself from his momentary lapse in judgment.

"I apologize once more Mother." He had the decency to look a bit sheepish, "I just am concerned. I came to give her the new dress I purchased for her," he smiled at the memory, " I saw it had caught her eye at Gladrags, but when I arrived she was on the floor, unconscious..."

Narcissa seemed to understand where his fury was coming from and gave his pinched arm a small pat.

Healer Mullins took the opportunity to clear her throat. All eyes turned in her direction as she cleared her throat once more and started to speak, "Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Malfoy that is what I was afraid to tell you. It seems that when she last awoke, she didn't realize where she was."

Draco let out a load groan and fell unceremoniously onto the closest chair in the room.

"You mean she didn't recognize her bedroom?"

Healer Mullins shook her head sadly, "No, I mean... When I addressed her as Mrs. Malfoy she seemed…well, she seemed surprised. Shocked, even. She has fainted."

Draco stood and began to pace the room, burning a circular hole into the carpet before speaking.

"Why? She was making so much progress, I don't understand how she can simply wake up one day and forget her life. Is this a temporary thing?"

The Healer seemed to have a bit more confidence with Lady Malfoy in the room and replied, "I am not sure. All we can do is wait. I tried to revive her, but Ginny has to wake up on her own."

The healer gave him a small sympathetic smile, and clasped her hand around his shoulder in a professional comfort before leaving them.

He had to get out of this room.

He couldn't bear the thought of having to go through the last few months all over again… just as he was getting her to understand him.

_This means she doesn't remember the outcome of the battle, she won't remember her side failing or the Dark Lord killing Potter… she won't remember being auctioned off at the dark side's Celebratory Gala at the Manor. _

He felt sick.

_**FLASHBACK**_

**The final battle was raging on. He knew he had to get to her somehow. The Light side was losing, and he could hear screams and cries from the fallen all around him. His mask was clinging to the sweat on his face and he felt like he might suffocate or vomit from the putrid metallic smell of blood that wafted through the breeze like a hot wave of fire. **

**He knew she wouldn't hide out with the others that are younger. He knew she would be in the midst of the fighting, doing everything she could to fight or possibly die for the ones she loved. **

**Maybe that's why he was always so enthralled with her. She was feisty… she was a fire cracker…even when he would torment her in the halls of the school standing not too far from where he stood, he was drawn to the small red-head. **

**Just over the levy he could see the large structure he called his home for so many years in all its previous grandeur. The stones now reduced to rubble and the large windows were shattered and open, revealing the insides of his past life. His past home. He didn't want to keep fighting. **

**He was tired of being on the Dark Side. **

**Everything about Voldemort rubbed him the wrong way, sure, he believed in Pureblooded Ideology but the whole **_**'lets murder all the witches and wizards who aren't**_** really**_** muggles but they were **_**born**_** from them so that makes them **_**dirty**_**—so we can have a **_**dying**_** race of inbred purebloods to carry on the name of wizards?**_**' **

**Utter lunacy. **

**He was opposed to mating with them out of personal preference but thought it bloody mad to want to kill them all in cold blood.**

**He ran past Hagrid's hut and into a small cleaning in the wood to catch his breath.**

**Then a streak of light passed his left side before making a u-turn and heading back his way. He used his seeker reflexes to drop to the ground to avoid it. Growling he stood to face whoever had thrown the nasty hex. **

**He raised his wand above his head with a large slash and shot a disarming spell to the offensive side, unaware of who he was aiming at. **

**He heard a small gasp and watched as the Mudblood's wand flew from her grasp to land into his hand. **

_Damnit, why'd it have to be __**her**__. Red's best friend._

**He smirked at his little nick-name for her. Ginny Weasley hated him 'with every fiber of her being' as she so eloquently put it last time they had a chit chat. **

**But he couldn't help but secretly admire her strength and blasted Gryffindor courage. No one would ever hear him utter those words but his heart knew what others did not.**

**Hermione couldn't believe her eyes as she watched her wand soar into the hands of a Death Eater. How the hell did she not notice him? He was much quicker than the others, taller, lean but built.**

**She let her focus go blurry and waited for the inevitable. **

**Hermione Granger was the brightest witch in her year but wandless, she knew she was no match for the six foot brute of a man. **

**She opened her eyes just in time to see him approaching her.**

**Panic. **

**What was left to do? Wandless, and with no one nearby, surely he would kill her quickly, surely he wouldn't be so vile as to rape her, defenseless while her friends die on the Quidditch pitch not but a thousand feet away.**

_What was he going to do? Should she scream? _

**Hermione opened her mouth to do just that and stopped when she realized he had stopped short. He pointed her wand between her eyes and watched as fear crawled up her spine and she fought the urge to be sick all over the place. **

**Just as she was about to collapse and empty the contents of her stomach out of exhaustion and hear he lowered her wand and flipped it in the air a small way and caught it by the tip.**

**She stood dumbfounded and was completely floored when he held it close enough to be within her grasp.**_ Why should she trust him? Who was this Death Eater? _

"**Why?" was all she managed to get out as she stared him fiercely in the eyes, startled that he was looking back at her with fury in his steely eyes.**

**The Death Eater before her gave a frustrated growl and jabbed her wand towards her hands roughly.**

"**Just fucking **_**take**_** it already for Merlin's sake. I'm not doing this for **_**you**_**."**

**Hermione was confused but didn't have to be told twice. She grabbed the wand swiftly and made to turn away but stopped herself, "Thank you," she tried to keep the Death Eaters gaze just long enough to try and recognize him. **

**He grunted a 'welcome' and dashed off into the forest without looking back. **

**Only then did she realize who those eyes belong to.**

* * *

**Draco was angry with himself. **

**For ever giving mercy to the one person he had a true reason to dislike. Sure she was bratty and stuck-up, always had her nose buried in a book, and of course- a stupid Mudblood, she had beaten him in every bleeding class they had ever taken in school. **

**But that wasn't truly why he disliked her so much. **

**She was the reason he was in this ridiculous predicament. She was the reason he ever began to question his father's ideologies and the very moral ground on which he was raised.**

**Growing up, he was told everyday that Purebloods are the elite. The **_**best**_** of the **_**best**_** of the **_**best**_**. They do not have to give compliments, only receive them. **

**They do not have to play by the rules, they are wizard royalty-they make the rules. **

**He remembered the year he turned thirteen and his father beat him for picking up a book for a house else after he had dropped it in the study. **

**Lucius was a very evil man. And Draco wanted to be just like him, he idolized the very ground that his Father walked on until that day, after a particularly nasty stinging hex- the first time his father had ever abused him with magic- he lost a tiny little ounce of respect for him. **

**Not enough to change anything drastically, but enough for him to never forget his next words.**

**He told him, "We are better than anyone and everyone, any**_**thing**_** and every**_**thing**_**. It is your **_**right son, **_**to put those beneath you in their proper place, beneath your shoe."**

**That was when he began to truly hate Hermione Granger. **

* * *

**She was everything she wasn't supposed to be. **

**Brilliant, pretty, accomplished, ahead of him by mere points in every subject but potions. The fucking checklist was endless.**

**She was a walking misconception for him. **

**His father continued to abuse him and beat him every semester he came home second in the class only to one. He hated her.**

**And now- after everything she had put him through, he is letting her escape. No- HELPING her escape. **

**He felt dizzy just thinking about the last few moments.**

**He had not only helped the Mudblood, he inadvertently saved her life. **

**Hermione dashed back into the clearing searching for Harry. She knew he wasn't too far away, their connection was strong and she could feel the humming vibration of the pendant he'd given her for Christmas that year nestled heavily on her sternum. **

**It was humming, her best friend was still alive. **

**She pushed her legs to run harder, faster as she dodged two spells sent in her direction. She watched from the corner of her eye as Rudolphus Lestrange's was taken down with a sharp green light. **

**He fell to the wet ground and an earth shattering scream pierced the cold night. His wife was a hurricane of white hot fury and uncontained rage. **

**She threw all she had into her next few curses and Hermione went to re-enforce Ron. Just as she reached his side, she realized she was too late. Bellatrix had murdered Ron in front of her eyes. **

**She looked a little to her left and noticed the youngest Weasley laying unconscious in the mud. **

**Draco had run to the opposite side of the field after his encounter with Granger. There is no way he was going to deal with her again. He was pretty sure she recognized him before they departed, and he couldn't have her fucking anything up for him. **

**He tried the best he could to save his friends. That was all he had promised himself today. He refused to fight against Red. She never even knew he cared, or even that he noticed her for something other than a blood traitor and filth. **

**She never knew how she was the thoughts that consumed his mind when he lay down to rest at night. All he could think about the last few weeks were her long beachy waves and how lovely they would be spread across his pillow. **

**Her full pout and white, even teeth... he imagined them smiling at him, the way they smiled at Potter or her other idiot ex-boyfriends. **

**He dreamed of her giving him affection, instead of gnashing her teeth angrily when he was near.**

**It had always been her. **

**The book shop in Diagon Alley was the first time she stood out to him. Not only did she defend Potter, but she stood up to Him of all people. He couldn't help but admire her in his own way. No one had ever said anything back to Draco Malfoy before.**

**Later he realized it was Ginny who was taken into the Chamber of Secrets, and felt pity for her. Then after finding out his own flesh and blood was solely responsible for giving an eleven year old girl up to Tom, he went from pity to respect. She was so young and yet she handled the situation better than he ever could have. **

**Then she surprised him again and made the Gryffindor Quidditch team almost as young as Potter, and Draco felt himself impressed with her, maybe because he was glad someone knocked Pot-head down a notch or two. **

**He was a boy that couldn't shake her, and it only fueled him to taunt her more, to tease her relentlessly. **

**Then it almost crushed him.**

**He had never been so jealous of anyone in his life... Most people think that Granger stole the spotlight at the Tri-wizard tournament. They were mistaken, at least in his eyes.**

**He had never hated Neville Longbottom so much before now. No one seemed to notice the subtle way Draco found ways to always be near her, no one noticed the looks he would give her when she turned away, oblivious to his affections.**

**Of course, she could never know. What would his father think?**

**The following years at Hogwarts were damn near torture for him. He constantly had Parkinson up his ass to marry her pug-face into his family. Ya, pass. **

**Everyone was out to get him, no one understood how he felt about anything. Crabbe and Goyle were just mindless cronies, exact replicas of their disgusting fathers. He refused to be a robot that did menial tasks for a psychopath that wanted to kill. **

**The only friends in the world that he knew he could count on were Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass.**

**They knew how he truly felt about everything from the war to his father, but no one knew about Ginny Weasley and how she had unknowingly weaseled her way into his heart and captured him so completely that he found himself whiplashed every time he threw a verbal insult her way...**

**Until her 6th year. He never saw her coming, that was for sure. **

**She quite literally ran into him. Running late to Transfiguration she knocked the wind out of him, and thank Merlin. **

**If he hadn't lost his breath so completely he would've insulted her family or her second-hand robes that were three sizes too large for her lithe frame.**

**Instead he was laying on the cold floor of a deserted hall, speechless.**

**He only took this path back to the dungeons because he knew it was a shortcut. **

**Not many others would pass by when he chose that particular route. **

**Until today.**

* * *

**He could feel her warm body on top of his and he knew immediately who it was, the bright red hair flying in all directions and curtaining his face. **

**Draco took a deep breath and tried to tell himself he was merely trying to catch his breath, but deep down he knew differently. **

**He wanted to inhale her scent, he wanted to be this close to her and not get smacked for once in his life.**

**It was an amazing feeling. **

**She smelled of sandlewood and citrus, rosemary and mint. **

**He honestly wondered how she smelt of everything he favored but brushed it off once she came to in a few seconds and realized what just happened.**

**"I'm so sorry!" Ginny was trying to stand herself up and it was obvious she didnt know who she had knocked down as her hair blocked his entire face, "Gods, Im such a klutz!" She tried to roll away and ended up falling back against him, this time fully. **

**Chest to chest, and her nose was almost touching his. **

**He sucked in his breathe when their eyes met, "It's alright."**

_Fuck. _

**Draco mentally rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. **_What in the bloody hell is wrong with you Draco? You're not bloody pals with her! _

**She was still staring into his eyes, a confused and intrigued look gathered on her face. She liked surprises. This was one of those surprises.**

**"Draco..."**

**Her own eyes widened when she heard her small voice utter his name.**_ What is wrong with me? We are definitely not on first-name-basis! He is going to murder me!_

**His blood began to boil. But this time, not out of anger. She had just called him by his first name.**

**He had never in his life heard anything so sweet. She had whispered his name while lying on top of him in a deserted hallway. **

**He never felt so elated in his life! To his complete horror, he felt his lips tug up unnaturally into a lopsided smile.**

**Ginny couldn't help but think it was the sexiest thing she had ever witnessed in her existence. **

**He raised his head the two inches necessary and crashed his lips onto hers for a brief moment before pulling back.**

**Draco had no time to mentally scold himself for acting so irrationally. The next moment all he could feel was her lips back over his mouth, moving over him in a way that he had only dreamed of.**

**This couldn't possibly be real. It didn't last long and they both subconsciously groaned at the interruption. **

**They both heard a small gasp and a cough from the left and they sprang apart so quickly her head was spinning. **

**They had been caught….**_**snogging**_**? **

_MERLIN! _

_What was the world coming to?_

**Hermione looked back and forth between them. They had jumped apart so quickly she almost believed that she her brain made the whole thing up. **

**But that was impossible, because their eyes hadn't left each other since they moved. **

**It was almost like they were in a small state of shock. **

**She had to do something! Her best mate's baby sister was just on top of the enemy-snogging him no less!**

"**Uh, Gin…?" she said quietly**

**The smallest Weasley turned her head so fast Hermione was worried she might've pulled something. She seemed to be in a panic. Her eyes grew to the size of snitches and she shook her head back and forth fiercely trying to get a hold of herself. **

**She glanced back in the direction Malfoy was supposed to be, but he was already walking away.**

**Ginny was immediately furious! How could he just kiss her out of no where like that and then feed her to the wolves?**

_He kissed me first! _**Her mind wailed childishly.**

**Before she could say something witty and interesting to distract everyone, Malfoy took care of it for her.**

**He turned his body but kept his face on her, and they locked eyes for a moment before he nodded to her, his heart hammering unevenly in his chest,**

"**Ginny." **

**And with a ghost of a smile he turned in the opposite direction and continued on his way.**

* * *

**She turned her whole body to face Hermione who was still staring off into space with a small 'o' on her lips, simply shell-shocked and unable to close her jaw. **

**Ginny decided to take advantage of her problem and started to tip toe away when-**

"**Ginevra Weasley, what in the hell was th-"**

**But the small redhead had cut her off.**

"**It was nothing Hermione. I don't even know what just happened. I think I've just momentarily lost my mind."**

**She seemed very distraught and so bewildered with her own actions that the older girl took pity on her.**

"**I'll never tell a soul, Gin. I promise."**

**And she never did.**

* * *

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

**(OK! so i hope you all followed along with that alright, im still trying to give some background information before I plow full speed ahead with the original plot! if you hate the flashbacks just let me know!**

**Review if you wanna :]**

**chow baby)**


	4. Just A Dream

Narcissa heard Draco walking swiftly down the hall back to his chambers and opened the door to her parlor to stop him.

"Darling, would you come in for a moment, please?"

He had already passed the door and stopped in his tracks before turning to greet her.

"Hullo Mother, is everything alright?"

She said nothing, but gave him a small mysterious smile and opened the door to her quarters a bit more and stepped back so he could enter.

He walked past her into the small sitting area and shoved his hands deep into his pockets and furrowed his brow.

"Draco, sit down," she said as she laid a hand on his arm and gave him a guiding shove to the closest chair, "Now."

He sat and turned to face her, still frustrated that she was making such a to-do about coming in to talk to her. She never pulled him from the hall to come 'chat'. She took a seat in the emerald and cream winged back chair across from him, crossed her ankles properly and placed her hands delicately in her lap and waited for her son to look her in the eye.

Finally, his cool grey eyes found her face and then her eyes.

"When Ginevra wakes, I do not want you there."

She watched her son's face darken considerably, and then his eyes were a raging storm, almost black with malice. _Don't even think about it, Draco._

"Sometimes I loathe that you are still Lady Malfoy, Mother," he hissed at her. Narcissa smiled and looked away from her son, unperturbed by his manic state.

She seemed almost at ease, drawling her words much like her son does when he is unimpressed. He started to open his mouth, closed it. Then opened it again-angrier this time. Closed it. She could tell he seemed to be fighting a personal battle and watched him for a moment as his inner turmoil splashed every emotion across his pale face.

"I'm proud of you. I've never seen you control your anger so well, son."

As soon as her last word was spoken, Narcissa's smile was wiped clean and instantly replaced by fear as a thunderous crash sounded from the opposite side of the expansive room.

An expensive vas sitting near the doorway slammed viciously into the wall and shattered into a thousand razor sharp fragments that splintered as it hit and slid across the hardwood floor.

"You spoke too soon, Mother."

"Very mature, darling."

She instantly stood, red in the face and flourished her wand, muttering a repairing spell angrily under her breathe. The vase flew back into place swiftly and was levitated back to its original position.

Draco squared his shoulders and his eyes burned a hole into her back. _She's my wife!_

"I appreciate your concern mother, but as she is my wife, it is my job to protect her."

"Protect her? How are you going to protect her Draco?" she looked more pissed than he had ever seen her, "she has short term memory loss!"

If he looked crazed before, there was nothing to describe the hate that was dripping from his aura. He wandlessly and wordlessly smashed the vase again. His mother wasn't startled or surprised; in fact it only made her more vicious.

"That was an _**antique**_!"

She stomped past him and didn't look back. Before she was completely out the door, she shot him a few parting words over her shoulder in a voice he had never heard before.

"It's time you came to **accept **it, son. Sometimes we can't _save_ the ones we love."

Narcissa had already rounded the corner and was out of sight by the time Draco had fully processed what she said._ I don't love her! _

He could hear his mother's voice from down the hall call back to him.

"Yes you do!"

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy was born into a family of stubborn, hard-headed men and woman that are drawn to dark magic, raised to believe in the importance of maintaining pure-blood, and social standing. She always took what her parents had told her as law.

Until she married Lucius Malfoy.

It was very surprising to her that she took on the role as a wife and a mother so expertly... She always assumed she wouldn't like motherhood, ruining her body, and being a woman that took orders from her husband. But that was how she was raised, and that was how she lived her life. What she did not expect, was to enjoy it.

However, power does something to you. It eats away at the very fiber of your being and tried to suck you from the outside in. You will eventually be so powerful, that you become lonesome. No one is good enough for you, for your heart, for your children. Lucius let power eat away at him, and destroyed everything she held dear.

He killed her dream of a perfect pureblood family, but they were still elite. The Dark Lord still favored them because of Draco. How she wished they could be rid of the Dark Lord once and for all, but she could not let herself think these dirty thoughts. If she did, he might one day delve into her mind, and see it.

Tom would kill them all.

She walked to her new bedroom on the East wing and threw the doors open wide. She loved that she re-decorated the manor, it was so dark and dense before. Of course, the main floor still looked pretty much the same, incase that snak- The Dark Lord were to come for a visit.

_It's all about appearances. How you look, not how you feel on the inside._

She simply did not want to be in the same quarters she shared with her late husband. She was still lady Malfoy, as Ginevra had yet to provide Draco with an heir…_But she will._

Narcissa truly smiled to herself for the first time that day. _Nursery's to decorate_, _grandchildren to spoil._

She gave a heavy sigh and called for her favorite personal house elf. This was the only elf that wore clothes at Malfoy manner, after the creature-Dobby passed away. She spoiled her, maybe because of the guilt that came with Dobby, maybe because she never had a daughter and wanted to dress a little girl up.

"Diamond!"

The same elf spun into focus in with a **crack**. She was wearing the same pink tutu and smiled up at her Master with doting eyes.

"Miss Cissa, hows can I help yous?"

Narcissa bend down to Diamond's level and smiled at the tiny elf, "I need you to do me a really big favor, Diamond."

The elf's ears stuck straight up at the prospect of doing an important deed for her Master.

"I need you to guard Ginny from Draco. When she wakes up, she will be very confused. I want you to give her this letter, and this package," she said handing the elf the items, "Do not let him into the room until she has finished the letter."

Diamond nodded vigorously and her ears flapped back and forth.

"Of course Miss Cissa, I is not letting you down!"

With a loud **crack**, she was gone.

* * *

Draco couldnt help but contemplate the words his mother spoke to him earlier. He thought of Ginny how she used to be, at Hogwarts..

They had only ever shared a single kiss, but ever since that day in the hall, he was kinder. Gentler. He didn't make fun of her poor family, or jest at her looks and bright hair.

He had gone soft.

Every since that moment she tried to befriend him. He never let her.

She was always kept at arm's legnth.

Always on his mind, but expressed that she was merely an after-thought. There was only so many times that she could try to show him that she wanted to be his friend, and get to know who he really was as a person. He could see that Ginny's life was far less perfect than she let anyone in was in love with Potter. 

_Bloody fucking Potter_.

No wonder she was trying to befriend him.

Ginny Weasley was in love with Potter, and watched him love her best friend from the sidelines.

He assumed she knew, everyone who _really_ looked knew. He dated Ginny and went through the motions, just as Granger dated Weaslby and went through the motions.

But to Draco it was all too clear.

Hermione Granger and Harry Potter had an uncanny connection. For claiming to be brother and sister they were almost** too** close.

They talked to each other with either eyes, like Granger had found some long lost secret language only she and Potter shared._ Perhaps she had._

It was the only thing that could make sense. He remembered the day Ginny sought him out after lunch, her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. He recalled that she stopped him in the hall and only said 'please'. He followed her into an abandoned classroom and silenced it with an imperturbable charm.

She dissolving into tears.

Ginny explained that her and Harry broke up. He remembered being harsh to her, and letting her in on the one secret no one else knew. Granger and Potter were fucking around long before Red grew a set. He smirked and expected her to cry out, and unleash her fiery fire onto him for being so crass and blunt with her.

But she surprised him._ Like always._

She laughed. She was laugh-crying. It was bizarre and frankly scaring him a bit. Then his mind heard her repeat the same words that haunted him for the next year and a half.

_"I know. No one else may see it, but I do. I think...I think I always knew. But I'm upset because I don't care..."_

Draco remembered his heart soaring with those words, higher and higher in his chest until he felt like it might explode out the top of his body.

_"I always thought I was in love with him, but I'm not... I find myself thinking of... well... thinking of you. Thinking of you more and more, Draco."_

He laughed in her face, _"So what? You _love_ me then?"_

_"No, I dont."_ His heart sank to the lowest part of his abdomen once again._ "I think about you because I know you are alone, just like I am. You may pretend like you are o-k, but you're not."_

If only he could go back to that conversation and change the way he reacted, maybe she wouldn't hate him so much.

All he remembers was cold and calculated anger, _"You dont know anything about me witch. You need to leave me alone. I don't bloody care about your little girl problems and wishes and dreams. They are all useless. The Dark Lord is going to slaughter all of your bleeding friends and family, maybe even you, Red,"_ he was in her face now, spiting his words like hot fire and flame. She could feel the heat from his tirade licking at her neck, suffocating her with the images he was putting into her head, "_And I cant stop it. I cant prevent it from happening. I will probably die right along side them."_

Ginny was supposed to cower in fear. She was supposed to turn her face away, maybe hit him for good measure. But she didn't. What she did was a thousand times worse than anything she could've done.

She kissed him.

Full on the mouth. He never felt so alive, so much feeling and passion. She was so small but she held him in a vice grip, refusing to let him lash out at her, keeping him close to herself-like he would disappear if he let go.

Draco took a violent step back and looked into the small red head's eyes.

"_Was I supposed to feel something?_"

He watched her face fall and her heart break all over again.

She started to walk past him and stopped just beyond his shoulder, "_I couldve been your friend. I could have taken care of you, Draco. But you don't deserve it and you don't deserve me."_

Ginny didn't say another word, she simply walked past him and out of the room.

They never spoke again, after that.

He simply watched her from afar, and after ruining any chances of being in her good graces he vowed to protect her. She was on the Light side, and he was on the Dark side, they could never be.

He was a Malfoy, and she- a blood traitor. Worse than filth. No, they could never be together.

But he never stopped loving her.

Draco shook the memory from his thoughts and let out a heavy sigh. _That is how she remembers me. As the bloody ferret boy. The enemy._

After repairing the vase as best he could, he sat down on the daybed in the parlor and closed his eyes.

* * *

Draco was racing across the wet grass the night of the battle. He needed to find Ginny.

He saw flashes of red in multiple places across the field._ Damn. Why do they all have to have the exact same hair? _He heard a scream and recognized it to be his Aunt Bella's dulcet tone. He never liked her much, she was reckless and wild. A young stallion, uncontrollable and dangerous...even to family. He never understood how she was born from the same woman as his mother.

Dodging hexes left and right he closed the distance that was between himself and his Aunt after seeing Ginny on the floor nearby. He felt a rage overtake his being once he realized she was dead.

He went to raise his wand to his flesh and blood but someone beat him to it. Bellatrix was knocked back several hundred feet, gashes cut across her middle.

'_You cant be dead, you cant be dead'_ He kept chanting the phrase over and over again in his mind. He ran to the point where he had seen Ginny in the mud.

Further away he could see Bellatrix in a blood heap, her wand flown from her hand and resting several yards from her mangled body. She wasn't moving.

Glancing in her direction was a mistake... for before he could reach Ginny's side, someone had sized him up and was raising their wand against him. _For the love of all that is right and wrong in the world, Potter!_

"Get away from her! Not another step!" Potter shouted from across me. He was protecting Ginny.

_Bloody righteous piece of shit._

He didn't have time to react.

"Sectumsempra!"

Draco barely dodged the hex that Potter had already used on him once before.

He rolled onto the ground and shot a disarming spell at the raven haired boy. Potter seemed to be taken off guard. Death Eaters don't disarm. They kill.

Out of nowhere Granger came into view. She was brandishing her wand like a pirate fencing. She cast a protection charm on me before Potter could understand what was happening.

He didn't have time to question how she knew it was him, he recalled seeing a small amount of recognition cross her eyes earlier in the clearing of the forest. He didn't have time to thank her.

A gold and silver spell went whizzing by his face, barely missing him and he could feel a white-hot brand sear his left cheekbone. He clutched his cheek and lifted his eyes in horror to see Ginny Weasley standing again, only to be knocked back down by the spell that grazed his face.

He watched her perfect mouth form an 'o' shape and her body fall limply to the floor.

Draco was by her side in an instant, catching her head before it hit the ground and caught a glimpse of her chocolate irises before they unfocused and he watched the life fade slowly from her eyes.

"Dont worry, Ginny. Ill protect you."

* * *

He was startled from his dream moments later by his house elf, Penny.

"Master! She's awake! Mistress is awake!"


End file.
